Blood Legacy
by Wizarmonfan
Summary: (Digimon). OCs. "Wizarmon, we all know you're destined to be a hero, in more ways than one. Just please watch over them and make sure they don't get hurt." Inclining his hat and touching the tip of it, the elf nodded. "You have great faith in me, Bearmon. I will protect them."
1. Protect and Fight

**A/N**: Hi everyone! I wasn't going to release this until the 26th, but was convinced otherwise, so I pushed this forward because I'm doing this for Nanowrimo. The first story in the _**Illuminati Legends**_ series, Blood Legacy is ready for action. Rated T for violence, swearing, death and romance. This is OC-based with canon and OC appearances from other fics.

Here is my story of the Chosen Children who came before any team in Odaiba, before the first International Chosen, before the first Tamers, even before the 01/02+ Chosen. So sit back, relax and enjoy.

The update day for this fic is every second **Friday**, barring holidays.

_**This fanfic is co-written with Charlie2038 and will be beta-ed by DigitalWarrior96**_.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon. All of the Digimon you'll be reading about in this fic are owned by the same people who own Digimon: Bandai/Toei. The Chosen Children are owned by me, canon characters are owned by Bandai and this disclaimer is applicable for all of the chapters after this one. I do not own Digimon World 2. The idea for the Chaos Generals came from Digimon World 2.

Donna Burke is the singer who penned "Heavens Divide". Certain chapter titles come from that superb piece of music. You will know which ones they are if you analyze the song once said chapters are posted.

**Note: Credit goes to Digimon World Alpha for the use of the Digivices known as D-Coders**.

...

Odaiba, 18th March, 1973. A powerful army of dark Digimon with four very strong Mega levels commanding them invaded the city on that exact day. Five children were chosen that day and met their partners. However, the Chosen Digimon would have to wait ten years for their partners to grow up. But now the day has finally come, where the Chosen Children can make their stand!

_**Blood Legacy**_

_**Chapter 1: Protect and Fight**_

Standing victoriously in the completely levelled army barracks, Chaosdramon revelled in the fact that he's had control over Odaiba for ten years and no one had ever decided to resist his rule. He voiced his thoughts in a low murmur, only to hear a scoff and comment from one of the trio of shadowed Digimon behind him.

"Until now." The challenging remark had come from Chaos Greymon, who had proven himself to be the most influential of the Chaos Generals. There was no official ranking between them, but the armoured Digimon had established himself as a force to be reckoned with. Of course, that did not mean he was any match for Chaosdramon himself, but he never forgot about the Dramon Killers the Chaos General wielded expertly.

"What will be done about these humans?" another asked impatiently. Chaosdramon was sure that was Chaos Seadramon, but he could not be one hundred percent.

"Their fall is imminent and you three will make sure of it."

"Well I'm sure these two will jump at the chance to attack, but I just want to make sure those wretched humans don't touch my collection," Chaos Piemon added.

Chaos Greymon groaned audibly; he always thought that Chaos Piemon's foolish pursuit for human artefacts was a complete waste. The fact he was considered to be of the same calibre as himself was insulting. Chaos Piemon glared at the dragon Digimon and he knew he was the only one in the room that had a true sense of class.

Chaos Seadramon had not spoken after his initial complaint. It was not necessary to be part of this conversation and he longed to return to his watery domain.

Chaosdramon cleared his mechanical throat and continued: "Your focus will be to crush this rebellion as quickly as possible. We will begin at the docks, where they were last seen. Chaos Seadramon, this will be your job. The rest of you; if they do slip away from him, it will be your responsibility to take them. I want to meet their leader alive."

...

Sixteen-year-old Kenshin Mori entered the fencing guild's main chamber, reflecting on the past. He hadn't had the best life, but the reality he was living now was much better than his first ten years. He had been adopted by the Samurakami's, who took him in immediately following the car accident. Kenshin could see his friends and team-mates whenever he wanted and the view from the top of the two-story house was amazing.

Getting himself ready for the class, he drew the batto-jutsu that he used in his fencing lessons out of its scabbard and warmed up as he prepared for the spar. He made every effort to remain quiet, keep his muscles loose and regulate his breathing. Kenshin knew that if he was tense, he could not act with speed, which could be fatal. Asano-sensei had trained him to keep his body poised, so he could strike or parry without being hit.

_Always have your feet shoulder wide and when you move, move so your legs spread apart. Never have your feet close to each other. Hold your sword so you can handle it with ease. Watch your opponent's movements and learn when he moves in to attack and launch a pre-emptive strike. Be quick._

_When you parry, you keep the blade close to you so you don't stretch out to block and always try to counter your opponent's attack. Your footing and proper foot placement is the key for balance. The more of the sole of your foot touches the ground, the more grounded you are, giving you greater strength in your attacks_. One of his sensei's lessons came back to him as he concentrated.

He fluidly followed the path of the blade, striking, parrying and defending until his opponent, Rikuto Kinoshita, fell back, breathing raggedly before attempting a sneak attack.

_Clang!_

The raven-haired boy's sword met the strawberry-blonde's own blade and he pushed his foe's weapon aside. The duelling pair had a breather for a few minutes and were about to continue, when the door slid open, rattling on its track.

To say that it was generally quiet when fencing students clashed against each other would be an understatement. The door was always opening or closing for some reason or another; most times it was Asano-sensei going out to purchase a drink and then returning. Other times, students from different levelled classes came to Asano-sensei to ask him about how to correctly perform a technique.

This time, however, he noticed Kinoshita glance up at the figure who currently stood in the doorway and heard the low wolf whistle. Detecting it was his adoptive sister, he growled softly enough so that Rikuto could hear him and back off, he straightened and looked in her direction. Asano-sensei was also staring at the interruption.

"Please forgive me, Asano-sensei!" The girl with long, light brunette hair exclaimed. "But I'm here to pick up my brother; we have to go." She bowed apologetically and held it, while he acknowledged her. The girl returned to her original posture and glanced over at Kenshin. While she had been giving the half truth, he had hastily packed his bag and gave an apology to his sensei and his opponent, before dashing out the door with the girl.

Several minutes later, he gathered the courage to ask the question that had entered his mind as soon as he perceived her presence. "Shizuka…?" He asked hesitantly.

"Hiroshi called," the girl, a year older than him, answered up-front. "Rogue Rookie level in one of the abandoned warehouses. Light attribute. It's Lucemon." Shizuka paused momentarily and grimaced, before snorting in disdain. "Smells of Chaosdramon, has his work written all over it." _But… what is he hoping to achieve?_

A light tap was heard near them and the pair instantly whirled defensively, before noticeably settling down. Kenshin drew in a shaky breath, the panic still not fully gone from his violet eyes. "Wi-Wizardmon!" he gasped, stumbling and catching hold of his sister to stabilize himself. Shizuka smiled calmly at him; she didn't mind the clinginess. Kenshin had been worried, as he hadn't seen his partner that morning.

Standing there was a man in red and yellow torn clothes and his face hidden. He wore brown boots with crescent moons on them. The man wore a purple cape and hat with a skull over his straw-yellow hair, his emerald green eyes only just able to be seen. In one of his gloved hands was a staff with a broken sun.

"_It's time_," the elf spoke politely in the language of all elven and mage Digimon, Darnassian. He held out a gloved hand and Kenshin rushed to take it into his, frantic that he would never see his partner again. Shizuka merely strolled over and placed her own hand on Wizardmon's shoulder with Gazimon following his partner's actions in silence as the mage tapped his staff on the ground again and a light enveloped them, teleportation taking over.

...

"Hisao~ Come on; we have to go," the voice of the fourteen-year-old boy's older twin sang jovially up the stairs. The girl's green flower-like Digimon with a red head and collar of red leaves around her neck waited faithfully beside her.

A garbled noise reached her ears that sounded almost like "give me a minute". Saki sighed, smiling good-naturedly and resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. The thudding of footfalls coming down the steps indicated her brother was now ready, but he didn't seem to realize he hadn't wiped that huge, embarrassed smirk off of his face or dulled the fire dancing in his eyes.

Both twins had auburn hair and green eyes, with the only difference being that Saki's were more troubled-looking. But that wasn't the problem right now. "Hiroshi is waiting for us," she began warmly, a rarely seen sly grin crossing her own face. "You've been contacting Shizuka again, haven't you?"

Unable to lie to his nee-chan now that she had him worked out, Hisao became flustered. "How did you know?! I don't have my phone with me!"

Laughter lit up the elder's eyes and she motioned to his mouth and eyes as the parts of his body that gave him away. His eyes dropped in a defeated expression, but Saki was swift to remedy that. Placing a couple of fingers underneath his chin, she lifted Hisao's head up. "Cheer up, little brother," she reassured softly. "Now come on; we've got a rogue to fight!"

The twins hurried out of the house, their Candlemon and Floramon right beside them.

...

_Chaosdramon glanced down upon the Digimon, his eyes expressing a cruel, sneering look. The recently created Rookie level had fair skin and hair and overwhelming sapphire eyes. Twelve angelic wings unfurled from his humanoid body. Dark lines ran down his cheeks, chest and right arm._

"_You are a very unique Digimon, being the result of the twelve trait attributes," the Mugendramon subspecies boomed. "Put into one body, the strength within you is like no other power within any other Digimon."_

"_With your strength, Lucemon, you will go to an abandoned warehouse and stop the Chosen Children, since they are now of age." The mostly black and white Chaos Piemon instructed, fiddling with his red sashes and smiling as was the way of all Piemon when enjoying a twisted game of hide and seek. He and his leader were celebrating at the bottom of the tower Chaos Piemon had taken as his realm._

_After the Rookie level had left to do his appointed task, the clown chuckled and turned to pierce his commander with a blue eye, before raising a glass up to his mouth and taking a mouthful of liquid. "I thought it extraordinary that the Children would begin their revolt today. Do you think they know the truth about the car accident?"_

_The red and grey, heavily armoured monstrosity jerked his head in his subordinate's direction. "It wouldn't matter if they do," he rumbled in an overconfident, scraping tone. "What can the _hybrid_ do against us?"_

Hiroshi hadn't wanted to come across one of Chaosdramon's minions today but, in the end, decided there was no better time to begin a rebellion and take back the city from the control of Chaosdramon and the Chaos Generals. The Child and Bearmon stood in the doorway of the warehouse. Inside, having entered via blasting his way through a wall was Lucemon, at ease but still prepared to battle at a moment's notice.

The dirty-blonde fifteen-year-old rocked back and forth on his feet absently while he waited for his team-mates to arrive. Hiroshi's movement set Lucemon off, however, and the angel flew forward, proceeding to attack. "_Grand Cross!_" he declared in a calm tone, drawing his hands together and saying a short prayer. Then he moved his hands away from each other and formed a triangle between his fingers and thumbs. Eight objects, two on a spoke, extended from a central light source. The cross of planets and stars fired forward.

Hiroshi grabbed Bearmon and they rolled, barely making it to safety. The boy's blue D-Coder buzzed and an image of Lucemon appeared from the device, floating an inch above the screen. Aside from the Digimon being shown, some text popped up as well. "Lucemon, Vaccine attribute. Rookie level, evil Digimon. Its attacks are Grand Cross and Divine Feat," he read coolly, raising an eyebrow nonchalantly.

As Lucemon charged again, Hiroshi had just enough time to eye a steel pole lying just inside the doorway, grab it and swing to defend against the angel Digimon. He struggled to keep Lucemon away from himself and Bearmon. Hiroshi was not as strong as an athlete or iron man, but his protective behaviour and the desire to stay alive stirred something inside him, making him keep on defending until his friends showed up.

Lucemon pushed the human away. But Hiroshi wasn't going to give up. He ran at the Digimon with the pole in his hands, successfully managing to cut Lucemon's forehead, leaving blood to drip into the Rookie's eyes. Hiroshi knew it was far from over, but was going to be caught off-guard by what Lucemon did next. The spoked object technique hung over his hands a second time.

"_Grand Cross!_" he shouted, losing his cool. This time, the planets and stars were too big and would have crushed the pole Hiroshi still wielded. The move was coming so fast he couldn't escape quickly enough. It was going to hit him.

"_Bear-cub Punch!_" Before the Grand Cross struck Hiroshi, Bearmon had come to the rescue, charging up his fist with energy and punching at the attack with all of his might. Hiroshi stared at his Digimon partner in shock, before sighing and nodding at the bear cub, knowing he was going to get interrogated later over what Bearmon dubbed "his stupidity".

Then back up finally arrived.

"Want some help?" Shizuka. Hiroshi could tell by her straightforwardness.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Shizuka, Saki, Hisao, Kenshin; took ya long enough," he finished, embellishing his words with a grin. Before he could ask his team-mates how their day was, Lucemon attacked once more.

The angel lifted a hand vertically and swept it to the left. A huge wind washed from the right to the left, making them struggle to stay standing.

Hisao jumped at Lucemon, after the wind had died down, grabbed onto his hair and pulled it.

"_Paraffin Paralyzer!_" Hisao's Candlemon spun around while creating a tornado of flame that repelled attacks.

"Whoa!" Saki cried out as Lucemon was furious now, his presence seemingly towering over them all. He prepared to finish them off.

"_Divine Feat!_" he roared.

The team was trapped… at least, that's what they thought.

"Let's attack!" Hisao commanded bluntly out of the blue. Saki glanced at her younger twin and nodded, sensing the plan.

It was Floramon who attacked first. "_Rain of Pollen!_" Pollen started emanating from her hands to confuse Lucemon.

"_Thunder Ball!_" Wizardmon threw an electric ball from his gloved hand.

Even though they were attacking, Lucemon wasn't giving up. The angel Digimon charged straight towards Gazimon, who hadn't moved a muscle since arriving.

"_Electric…_"

"_Grand Cross!_"

"_... Stun Blast!_" The grey rabbit unleashed a poisonous, gaseous breath onto their foe. Gazimon's Electric Stun Blast was apparently so deadly that it caused Lucemon's data to start blurring.

This gave Bearmon and Wizardmon their chance for a second attack.

"_Bear Claw!_" Bearmon attacked Lucemon with his claws.

"_Magical Game!_" Wizardmon released blue lightning from his staff. It blasted into Lucemon and finally the angel fell, bursting into data before their very eyes.

"Right then," Hiroshi started unconcernedly, exhaling heavily for show. "One down, hundreds to go. Anyone for a piece of cake?"

Shizuka snorted in amusement, but shook her head. "It's getting late," she explained without beating around the bush. "Our parents will be wondering what happened to us." That jolted the others out of Hiroshi's joke that they became a part of and began looking for a way out of the conversation.

Kenshin quietly and nervously commented about his adoptive parents wanting to discuss something with him, mentioning meeting at the park tomorrow after school.

"That sounds perfect," Saki hummed energetically, her tone pleasant on their ears.

Soon, the five children and their Digimon partners decided to return home and get ready for the next day of school.

...

Around the same time as the others returned to their homes, Brianna Monroe arrived at her house in one of her delusions. "_I am home from school_," the girl who was the same age as Shizuka and who had inherited her father's hair and eye colour called out dreamily.

Her father, an engineer, and her shop assistant mother were sitting in the dining room. "_You're back late, Bri_," Jeremy started off calmly, using his nickname for his daughter.

"_Yes; it's already dark!_" Serena pointed out bluntly, catching but ignoring the warning look Jeremy threw her.

Brianna explained that she had been watching the others battle a rogue Digimon.

Serena tched and Jeremy shook his head in despair. He didn't have the heart to tell her that Serena believed mixing with those children was not a good influence on her grades. So he wouldn't; he would allow his daughter to continue interacting with the Japanese teenagers and only when hell froze over would he give his reasons to his wife.

"_You can go now, dear_," he stated, pleased with his plan. "_I will bring your dinner to your room_." Smiling affably at his daughter, he observed her give a small appreciative twitch of the mouth as thanks for being let off the hook, before scampering to her room to escape the fury soon to come.

"_Damn it, Jeremy!_" Serena raised her voice. "_Why the hell do you keep doing that?!_" The brown-haired woman in her late thirties was fed up with her husband letting their daughter off the hook every time she came home late.

Jeremy, a curly-haired forty-year-old blue-eyed blonde, was tired of answering to his wife all of the time. "_I'm her father, Serena. If you don't like that, then this obviously isn't working anymore and I want you to leave_."

A deafening silence fell upon the house, before a cry of angry frustration burst from Serena's lips and she exited the residence, slamming the door as hard as she could.

...

Hiroshi and his partner entered the Kaneko abode and his mother and siblings were surprised to hear that he was getting an earful from Bearmon, as he had promised earlier. "That was very careless, Hiroshi. Your stupidity could've gotten you killed! If Lucemon had been at a higher level, you'd be the end of me! You know how the bond between a Child and their Chosen Digimon works: if the human dies, the Digimon dies. Do try not to be so reckless next time!" the bear cub groused judgementally, cynically.

While his family were taken aback at the earful he was receiving, Hiroshi, on the other hand, was more shocked that this was the most his Digimon had ever spoken in one go. The next thing he knew was that his father was shouting at him. "Wipe that smile off of your face, boy!" He instinctively complied, not realizing a small grin had appeared on his features at how talkative his partner had been.

Amaterasu dared to raise her voice. "Takao, _enough!_" It wouldn't get her anywhere, though; it never did, sadly. What Takao would do next proved it.

Her husband became stonily silent and shot her a glare, which all but said: _Speak back to me again and your brother will find your body_.

Stillness descended after those unspoken words until Tsurugi piped up. "Yo bro', how was ol' Chaos' rogue?"

The youngest triplet, Sora, glared at his older brother, having never fully forgiven him for what he had done to him and Hiroshi, while Hiroshi decided upon an answer. He glanced down into Bearmon's eyes and the Digimon nodded in agreement. Returning his attention to Tsurugi, Hiroshi replied a little nervously: "... Lucemon was difficult... for a Rookie. If Shizuka and the rest of the team hadn't arrived when they did, then Bearmon and I would be dead."

"So your Digimon was telling the truth?" Sora cut in before Tsurugi could reply. It was a habit Sora had fallen into whilst growing up with an overassertive red-headed ass of a brother. It was a skill Sora had had to pick up quickly or Hiroshi would fall. At least, that's how Sora viewed it since his slightly older brother was unable to take praise well and he knew that's where Tsurugi was headed.

"Bearmon," Hiroshi insisted, trying to get his brother to use his partner's name correctly. Sora shrugged evasively and the Child sighed. "But yes, he was telling the truth."

A giggle reached their ears and all three brothers glanced over to where Akane was kneeling in front of Bearmon. She was pulling at the leather straps that encircled his paws and tugging at his cap. The Digimon was not tolerating it well for his eyes were narrowed. If there was one thing that truly synchronized the triplets, it was the protection of their sister against _any_ threat, familiar or foreign.

Tsurugi stepped effortlessly with Sora and went to Akane's side, Sora whispering in her ear that she shouldn't have been antagonizing Bearmon.

Hiroshi placed a hand on his partner's shoulder and, as Bearmon looked up at him, the boy shook his head decisively no. "Akane is developmentally handicapped, Bearmon," Hiroshi clarified softly and the bear cub could hear the silent words: _She wouldn't have known what she was doing, so don't harm her ever or even think about it. Or you'll answer to the three of us_.

...

"Mum, Dad!" Saki called out as they entered their home. "We're back!"

Hisao caught sight of a note stuck to the fridge door and gently pulled it off, reading it. His eyes widened when he saw the mention of Shizuka's name and wondered if she was going to tell their parents he'd been contacting her. He hoped not and shook his head to dispel the thought. Hisao turned to his sister to inform her of the note's contents. "Mum and Dad-" he began, cutting himself off immediately when he saw his nee-chan talking to Floramon and Candlemon. There was a tear trickling down her face and he stiffened, guessing at the topic of discussion.

He walked over to her side quickly, placing a comforting arm around her shoulder and glared at their partners, almost saying: _You don't bring him up. At all. Get it?_

To his surprise, Candlemon bit back. "Get the stick out of your own ass, partner," the candle-like Digimon with a DemiMeramon on his head snapped patronizingly. "We were explaining that we felt Akira's spirit at the battle site." The news caused Hisao's eyes to widen once more, this time in shock.

"After all of this time, he is still looking after the two of you." Floramon's trustworthy and meaningful words rang true for the twins and they were ashamed to admit they'd thought Akira had passed to the afterlife already.

But he would continue to prove them wrong, it seemed.

Saki reached up and grabbed hold of her brother's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "I'm okay," she murmured, knowing it wasn't the full truth. She wasn't okay, but she would remain strong for both their sakes. Removing Hisao's arm slowly, she turned to face her brother. "Come on, let's see what our parents left for dinner. Oh?" One eye had seen the note in the male's hands.

"This? I'll tell you while we're having dinner," Hisao offered quietly. Saki nodded, a smile returning to her features.

...

Upstairs in the spare room of the Samurakami residence, Shizuka and Kenshin were having a conversation that was far more private than what the Okada seniors were talking to their parents about.

"Kenshin," the girl began softly, knowing this would likely tear him apart. "There's something I have to tell you; it's about your parents."

A flash of terror crossed the boy's visage. "Y-You know my father?" he stammered with the slightest hint of hope.

This was what Shizuka knew would happen. He'd assume she was referring to his real father, the unknown being who had spent time with the boy's mother, which inevitably resulted in Kenshin's birth and the individual's departure, forcing Yumiko to depend on her actual husband, Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi made it clear quite early that he was not impressed she had had a sexual relationship outside of her marriage to him, making things difficult for Kenshin, too, as he grew up.

"Unfortunately, I do not," she answered honestly. _But that won't stop me from trying to learn who he is_, Shizuka thought frankly. "It's about the day of the accident." The girl got to the point, putting speech marks around the word accident with her fingers. "It was no accident, little brother; it was Chaosdramon's work. Two of his minions, to be exact."

Kenshin jerked his head back and pressed up against the wall. Shizuka knew better than to approach the strawberry-blonde when he reacted like that, but still felt the sorrow at his expression wrench her heart. She hadn't told him the truth to be cruel, more that it needed to be out in the open before the reality of it all was truly forgotten. Shizuka got up slowly and walked miserably to the door, turning back before she left. "I'll be there for you, Kenshin, when you need me most." She murmured and then she was gone.

...

**A/N**: Brianna and her family, as well as Willow's (who will feature later on), are English-born. Their moments of speech will be italicized to indicate a different language.

The speech for Hiroshi and the others, who are Japanese, will be left as it is. However, when Brianna and Willow speak Japanese, it will be untouched like the Japanese-born children's and an explanation will be given for their broken use of it.

Also, I would have used the Japanese way for naming and Digimon attacks, but another friend of mine is not used to that tradition, so various things will be done in the English way and others, like honorifics, will stay the same. I hope everyone is alright with that.


	2. Reminiscing

**A/N**: Due to my co-writer not getting back to me with the scene I required, said scene will now have to be inserted into chapter 4.

...

_**Chapter 2: Reminiscing**_

The next morning, Saki and Hisao said goodbye to their partners and took off for school, with Saki hoping that her brother wouldn't get into a fight today. Throughout the day, specifically at lunch breaks, the Chosen Children talked about what they would do at the park. Saki suggested that since they didn't bring their Digimon to school, they would return home to pick them up, meet at the park and get their partners to answer their questions on who attacked them before they arrived in Odaiba.

The rest of the children agreed. However, Saki's day became rather unpleasant as one of the class bullies, Kaito Adachi, started shouting vulgar things about and at everyone and caused all kinds of trouble for the teacher and other students. As she looked down at her papers, Saki thanked herself that she and Hisao had told their Digimon to stay at home. It was a good decision, after all. Who knows what kind of trouble would break out if Kaito were to meet Floramon or Candlemon face to face?

This did not happen, fortunately. The day came and passed and the twins were picked up from school by their father. Floramon and Candlemon were happy that they had returned and the twins were impressed the Digimon had done as they were told.

They retrieved their D-Coders and partners and everything after that went as planned without any difficulties... at least, that's what they first thought. The twins' father took them to the park, dropped them off and drove away. Hiroshi, Kenshin and Shizuka were already there, with their respective Digimon: Bearmon, Wizardmon and Gazimon.

"Onto questioning the Digimon," Hiroshi mentioned nonchalantly.

All of the Digimon gathered in the middle of the park, waiting for their partners to ask their questions. "You want to ask us if we remember who attacked us before we came to Odaiba," Gazimon asked shrewdly, one eyebrow raised knowingly.

Shizuka looked a little flustered at her partner's astuteness, but Hiroshi motioned for her to calm down. "That's right," he answered in an unworried tone.

The Digimon all glanced at each other and pondered the issue. Minutes passed. Hiroshi realized by their faces it didn't seem like they even had the faintest memory of who attacked them before they arrived in the city. "I can not remember anything other than it was a Champion level that attacked us," Bearmon eventually replied modestly, his eyes downcast.

"Yeah. The same," Floramon responded sadly.

"We don't know which Champion level it was. Sorry, Kenshin," Wizardmon told them.

The Children and their Digimon parted ways, with the meeting now finished, and headed home. Hisao had gone ahead of his elder twin to visit a patient at the hospital in their street and that's when it happened.

ZOOM! WHOOSH!

Saki yelped as she ducked for cover. Something swept past her with great speed and agility. Leaves blew past her because of the creature's speed. As Saki straightened up, she saw a Digimon flying above the trees, getting a good look at it and not liking what she saw.

A large Digimon, a little taller than herself, that looked like a giant bug hovered there. It had yellow and dark green scaly skin, big bug-like eyes, brown moth wings, a mane of brown hair at the back of its head, sharp teeth, leaf-shaped antennae and a shiny silver gatling gun that took the place of its tail. Saki pulled out her Digivice and brought up the Digimon's information.

"Mothmon, Data attribute. Armour Champion level, corrupted data. Morphon Gatling, Poison Dust, Energy Drain and Gauss Powder are its techniques." Saki and Floramon glanced at each other worriedly after hearing their foe's statistics. "No point in complaining now. Let's do this, Floramon!"

"Into battle we shall go!" the Rookie stated resolutely, as she landed the first attack. "_Rain of Pollen!_" Floramon concentrated on sending the pollen from her hands to befuddle Mothmon. Unfortunately, Mothmon dodged the attack and flew all over the place, its wings moving swiftly like that of a hummingbird.

"This thing refuses to stay still!" Saki exclaimed, exhaling heavily in frustration. Right as she said that, Mothmon stopped moving and launched an attack.

"_Morphon Gatling!_" A barrage of bullets shot out from Mothmon's tail gun, heading straight for Floramon.

The Rookie dodged successfully and countered with her own technique. "_Rain of Pollen!_" Pink spores floated upwards towards the moth Digimon who effortlessly blew them away with its wings. Floramon's attack didn't stop Mothmon from preparing to launch another attack that didn't involve shooting bullets at her.

"_Poison Dust!_" The Armour Champion didn't fly anywhere, but its wings flapped extremely fast. Like at hummingbird speed. Not only that, but a strange cloud of violet dust scattered and floated aimlessly towards the pair.

"Quick! Cover your mouth! Don't breathe in the dust!" Floramon instructed her partner, whilst doing the same thing. Once the poisonous dust had dissipated into the air, Floramon hurried towards a tree, climbed it and reached the top of it as the tree was young and still maturing.

_I see what you're doing, Floramon_, Saki realized quickly as Floramon released some vines from her hands and waved them in the air to try and get Mothmon's attention. It wasn't seeing them right now, though. _It has the same principle as moths really liking light. When it's dark, they love to hang around street lights. You're trying to draw Mothmon towards you so you can get in a decent attack!_

Mothmon finally caught sight of Floramon and her vines and, disregarding all principles, charged at the flower-like Digimon. Once Mothmon got close enough...

"_Sweet Scent!_" Floramon shoved the vines into Mothmon's face, one vine poking the Champion level in the eye, causing it to screech in pain. At that distraction, Floramon hopped onto Mothmon's back. The moth Digimon could feel the Rookie on its back and flew in all directions, wanting to get her off. It struggled and flailed around in the sky, but Floramon would not let go. She clutched onto Mothmon's back, refusing to get thrown off.

Thankfully enough, Mothmon's attention was diverted elsewhere.

"Hey you! Big ugly moth! Down here!" Saki froze and instantly mentally face-palmed. Hisao. Only her brother's bluntness and lack of tact would make her react like that. She turned and saw Hisao walking towards her with a burning branch in each hand and Candlemon hopping beside him. Hisao handed his sister a branch and, just for the time being, Saki decided to be foolhardy.

They waved the burning branches in front of Mothmon.

Torches. Burning torches. That did it. Mothmon descended towards them.

The twins ran while Candlemon attacked. "_Flame Bomber!_" The small flame attack successfully managed to hit Mothmon on its right wing, weakening it enough for Floramon to get off of its back without difficulty. The siblings then threw the branches in the creek, where the flowing water doused the fire immediately.

"Floramon, are you alright?" Saki asked.

"I'm just fine!" Floramon began. "I have an idea now that-" She never got to finish that sentence as Mothmon grabbed her with lightning reflexes and kept her locked tight in one of its hands.

"_Energy Drain!_" A green light surrounded Floramon and she cried out in pain. Her energy was being taken away from her by the giant ugly moth and she could not get out of its grip no matter how hard she tried. She was trapped.

"Floramon! Let her go, Mothmon!" Saki screamed angrily.

"_Gauss Powder!_" Mothmon flapped its wings again and, this time, a strange cloud of crimson red dust headed towards the group. They all covered their eyes and mouths, but Saki soon felt her skin burning and she didn't like that at all.

"Aarrgghh! It hurts!" She yelped.

"Mine too!" Hisao half growled, half cried. Fortunately, Mothmon's super fast flying made the powder go away faster and the burning feelings in their skin dissipate, but Saki wasn't giving up now. She saw Floramon lying unconscious in Mothmon's hand, drained of all of her energy. But something must have snapped in Mothmon's mind as it was now staring at her with a hungry expression.

It dove down at her, beginning to take her energy. But Saki wasn't going to stand for anything more. "Floramon! Help me!" It was this desperate, powerful cry that made both Floramon and Saki's dark pink D-Coder glow.

Saki was no longer enveloped by a green light and Floramon was swathed by a light the colour of the blue sky and a bolt of lightning, shining its faint beams on the green and red flower Digimon as it glowed. Mothmon was blinded by this light so much that it let go of Floramon who was still glowing and growing bigger in size as she fell.

"_Floramon digivolve to..._" The twins watched in awe as the blue and yellow light encircling Floramon grew bigger and bigger. Finally, the light dissipated and out came a mighty, regal-looking blue and yellow armoured bird with a long, lightning bolt-shaped horn above her nostrils. "_... Thunderbirdmon!_"

Thunderbirdmon alighted on the ground with grace and precision while Mothmon remained in flight. Saki was awestruck by her partner Digimon's transformation that she could not help but smile, despite the previous seriousness of the situation. "You look absolutely beautiful!" she complimented.

Thunderbirdmon turned to face Saki. "I underwent this transformation because of your desire to survive and persistent belief in me," she explained in a feral screech, her eyes dancing wildly with the fire of battle in them. Her voice was deep and rasping. "Join me as I delete Mothmon! Hop on my back, my partner!"

"Alright!" Saki made her way towards Thunderbirdmon and climbed onto her back. Thunderbirdmon flapped her wings, causing Saki to jump as a spark of electricity surged near her, ascended into the sky and chased after Mothmon, who was desperately trying to run away.

Saki and Thunderbirdmon chased after the frightened Mothmon, not letting it out of their sight. Saki privately loved this; now that Floramon had digivolved, it was her time to shine in regards to how well she did in battle. The girl knew her team-mates would get their chances but, at the moment, this was her battle, _her_ day.

That was when Thunderbirdmon seemed to truly awaken. She screamed as only a bird could, her whole manner completely untamed. Mothmon began to grow tired; it couldn't flee from them any more.

"_Thunderstorm!_" Flapping her electrically-charged wings, Thunderbirdmon generated a lightning storm which struck Mothmon and caused it to scream in agony.

Fortunately, the lightning bolt wasn't enough to kill Mothmon, but made it incapable of flying due to semi-paralysis. The moth Digimon descended to the ground.

However, it seemed Thunderbirdmon's feral behaviour wasn't over yet. "_Spark Wing!_" Countless electrified feathers shot down from her wings at the crippled Mothmon, piercing its flesh, digital blood trickling out. A moment later, Mothmon's body blurred and vaporized, turning into ash and data.

Thunderbirdmon descended back to the ground and Saki hopped off, before immediately turning on her partner with a shocked expression. "What did you just do to that Digimon?!" she exclaimed, a look of horror on her face. Hisao suspected he knew what had happened to Mothmon, but decided to keep his silence until he was positive.

"I already told you," the bestial half of Thunderbirdmon screeched. "Or weren't you listening? I deleted it!"

"Why?" Saki protested. "Just because it had corrupted data-"

"-doesn't mean it was really corrupted, is that what you were going to say?" the armoured partner Digimon mocked still in her boorish manner. Thunderbirdmon snorted, electricity arcing from one wing to the other. "If the Digivice says 'corrupted data', then the Digimon is corrupted, whether it is by accident, its own will or another's will. That's all there is to it."

_Thought so_, Hisao realized and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, about to speak when the light of de-digivolution enveloped Thunderbirdmon and faded, revealing Floramon down on one knee.

The flower Digimon struggled to her feet and glanced pleadingly at her partner. "I'm hungry," she moaned quietly, earnestly.

At the same time, Saki felt unusually weak, as if she had unknowingly lent her energy to support Thunderbirdmon's digivolution and the price of doing so was only now starting to hit her. She staggered a bit, but didn't fall.

Hisao embraced his sister and her partner in the universal gesture of 'let's go home'. The foursome strolled down the street, heading towards their home, completely unaware that they had been watched the entire time by a figure lurking in the shadows of a nearby alleyway.

"So, they've defeated a Rookie and an Armour Champion and the Floramon was the first to digivolve?" the figure gruffly questioned itself. "... No matter. I will send one of my best to take care of the leader. Once I take care of those damn Children, my lords should be very pleased with me." The figure chuckled hoarsely.


	3. Doves and White Roses

**A/N**: This is a giftshot-chapter for Aiko, as thanks for giving me as much advice as what she has and for jerking me back to reality when either my ideas go wrong or I haven't planned properly. Thank you, Aiko, for being such a good friend.

...

_**Chapter 3: Doves and White Roses**_

"You're here!" Shizuka called out the next day, the beginning of the weekend. She, Hiroshi and Hisao were standing in the front yard of the Samurakami residence.

"Yep!" Saki answered happily as she and Kenshin entered the property. Kenshin had gone ahead minutes earlier to pick up his girlfriend. They spent the time walking back talking about their plans for the day. Hisao frowned. "Don't look like that, Hisao. The doves will cry," the older twin smiled at her younger brother, giggling when he forced a smirk on his face. She knew what was bothering him, but decided to leave it up to Shizuka to say.

Kenshin softly required an answer for why she had called them and Saki gave the response he was seeking, patting his arm reassuringly. The auburn-haired girl could tell that the older boy was still a bit unsettled by the news Shizuka had dumped on him two days ago. They all were; however, it was time Kenshin put it behind him, but never forget.

"I think we would all like to know why we were called," Hiroshi stated casually, Bearmon by his side overly alert as usual.

"Yeah, we would," Candlemon cut in inappropriately, resulting in Hisao whacking his partner's side playfully. Shizuka smiled faintly at their antics.

Her voice carefree and good-humoured, Saki began: "I called everyone because I have important news to share about our partners' Digivolving. After they've de-digivolved, you will feel unusually weak, as if you unknowingly lent your strength to aid their digivolution. You might even stagger a little."

"... So tell us about your experiences," Kenshin tentatively requested in a barely audible murmur.

Shizuka nodded eagerly. Like the boys, she wanted to know what she was up against. "Hmm. Who was your opponent?"

"Mothmon and it was a dangerous one," Saki answered, her tone becoming slightly meaningful now. "Your opponent has multiple attacks, up to four, but it can be more. You'll be in a good situation to outmatch your foe if you have the attribute advantage."

"Who the hell are their targets?" Hisao grumbled. "Us, obviously, but why?" _What did we do to them?_

_We did nothing; they just chose us as their chew toys, thinking we would weaken_. "It seems they are after us, yes. Perhaps it's because our Digimon arrived here the same night they did..." Hiroshi had begun responding neutrally, his eyes narrowing slightly as he trailed off, coming to a conclusion quickly. _The same night our Digimon arrived..._ He stared at Bearmon, remembering all that he'd discussed with his little fluff ball with a tail the very night Wanyamon arrived. _Of course_. "Everyone," he began steadily. The statement caught his team-mates' attention and they all glanced at him. "I know who attacked our Digimon that night they arrived."

When he paused for dramatic effect, it did not sit well with Candlemon. "Hurry up and tell us, dipshit!" The Rookie blurted before a reprimanding smack from Hisao could stop him.

"I'm not sure what the species name of the Digimon was," Hiroshi started concluding, grimacing pointedly at Candlemon who rolled one eye and flipped the bird at him, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. "But, without a doubt, I can safely say it was one of Chaosdramon's minions."

_Chaosdramon this, Chaosdramon that_, Hisao snarled in his head. _It's always bloody Chaosdramon_.

Saki put an arm around her brother and hugged him reassuringly. "We'll get rid of them all, Hisao. I'm sure of it." The boy nodded automatically, his expression still angry.

"Anyway, enough of that talk aside. What has everyone got planned for the weekend?" Hiroshi asked calmly.

This caused Kenshin to shudder almost unnoticeably; even Shizuka stiffened. "Visiting our cousins," she explained simply.

_Popping the question_, Hisao mouthed to his leader, but was caught in the act by his sister who was skilled at lip-reading. Saki elbowed her brother hard in the ribs and he let out a hiss of pain. A burst of laughter escaped Shizuka's mouth who figured out what Saki was rousing on her brother about and Kenshin made it quite clear he was spending today with Saki as he placed an arm over her shoulders. She reciprocated by leaning her head against his.

With the meeting's discussion over, the team went their separate ways: Hiroshi heading off with Bearmon; Hisao and Shizuka side by side with their Digimon but not together; and Kenshin and Saki wandering towards the cinema to see a screening of Miyuki. The pair weren't sure what to think of the manga-based movie and decided, in the end, that the verdict was out as they had been confused by the plotline and two separate characters with the same first name.

After leaving the cinema, Kenshin and Saki stopped by a florist and Saki bought a white rose. They then headed to the cemetery and stopped at a particular grave. Saki knelt down and placed the white rose at the base of the tombstone. "Akira... I wish you could come back..." A single tear splashed down, moistening the cold cement of the tombstone.

Kenshin tightened his arm around Saki who had risen to her feet, feeling her distress and wanting to dispel it. He leaned his head down to her ear. "It'll be fine, Saki. Akira's watching over us; he'll protect us," the older boy whispered. Saki nodded, still teary-eyed. Their attention was quickly taken by a flock of white doves flying overhead. The sight was enough to make them both cry, but it was tears of happiness this time.


End file.
